Take apart my post-college plan.
Hi, thanks for reading.
I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do post-college, and I've come up with a rough plan:
1) Become a technology analyst at a prestigious firm (JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, etc.)
2) Spend 3-5 years at said firm and rank up a bit; to either Associate or the position after that.
3) Lateral to a big health insurance co. in a senior IT management position for 150-200K/yr+ in a low cost of living area.
4) Get an apartment that I can stand in, and then save the rest. Retire early. No marriage, kids, etc.
Background: I go to school near NYC. Goldman and JPM recruit on campus for IT-related positions; huge amount of kids go there in technology analyst roles. Some alumni in PB/AM/PWM.
I'll have a 3.3+ for sure. Leadership positions: founder of a company (online gaming / virtual good related) that has generated over $250K in revenue. Very high margins, so almost all of that is profit. (By the way: any advice on how to spin this during interviews for internships without sounding like a major liar/asshole?)
Any suggestions regarding my plan would be much appreciated. Note that I'm not at all interested in going into IB or any revenue-side roles.
The problems:
Although it seems I am shitting on your plan, the problem is that it is never easy in life. There have been many people in my life that have laid out a specific plan for the next 10-15 years of their lives. It NEVER works out exactly how you want it to be. That's not saying that people don't ever achieve the level of success they dreamed of; it's just that many times, people become successful in a way that they never could have predicted beforehand. Although it's good to have a plan, I suggest you "go with the flow" and instead be constantly searching for new opportunities to achieve your end goal.
EDIT: I noticed that you said you didn't want to go into IB (which means the TMT stuff in not directly applicable.) Nevertheless, many of the main ideas I mentioned are still applicable.
The BBs are switching away from a two-year contract to an indefinite contract. They want to retain analysts. Can confirm this was very recent.
By technology analyst, I meant an IT role at a major bank. As in a .NET/SQL developer or business analyst.
As for #5, I'm not sure where I was predicting anything. I said that it's made that thus far. In the past, not the future. As in, it's already made that. Just want to be abundantly clear on that.
I'm sure that it's quite possible to lateral out of a mid/senior IT role at JPM or GS and then get a Director-level IT job at a health care company. Certainly easier than working in IT at a startup, no?
I'm not at all interested in "high finance." I don't like the lifestyle, I don't like the amount of competition, and the stress. I just want to get my beginning IT experience at a respectable company so that more doors in IT are open to me.
Do you have a hard on for NYC in particular? I really don't have much of a clue about how much IT tech analysts make or really the career itself but I doubt an IB is going to pay them more than another F500 company, or at least enough more to make up for the much more expensive COL in NYC than anywhere other than SF. New York's fun when you're young but I have no idea how people who don't make banker/lawyer level money actually survive, let alone put any money away. People obviously do but if you're making $60-$80k with a small bonus, if one at all, you're not going to be able to take advantage of much of NYC except sharing a shitty apartment with twice as many people as the lease allows. You can do other big cities like Chicago, Seattle or Philly and have a somewhat similar lifestyle (and no, they're not NYC, but you can not have a car, walk, have restaurants/bars, museums, good music, etc) at half the price. Or move somewhere different like Boulder, Miami, either Portland, San Diego or another CA town like San Luis Obispo, etc? And I may be wrong here, but does the "prestige" of being in IT at Goldman do much for you career wise compared to just starting at any decent sized company? And why a health insurance co? I'd assume that IT is more or less going to be IT regardless of the specific company.
I'd also caution against planning too far ahead and nix marriage and kids when you're in college. I know they're not for everyone, they're expensive (marriage without kids actually isn't-two incomes, one residence-unless you get divorced), yada yada yada, but most guys, myself included, don't think about it much when they're young and that ends up changing as you get older. I'm 40 and one of my best friends from college always swore he was never getting married, lived the stud lifestyle of an MD at a good MM IB by 32 and he ended up succumbing to the ring about 3-4 years ago and kids very shortly after that.
I don't have a hard on for NYC, that's the point. I want to get my experience here (3-5 years) and get out. Probably somewhere like Minneapolis.
Finance isn't the only industry with dick measuring. Having GS or JPM experience would be a big plus. If you're at some no-name or a startup, people are going to laugh their ass off. 3-5 years of solid experience at a solid company is killer though.
Also, as long as I live in Queens and don't order food every day, I'm sure I'll be fine on 80K. Plenty of people make it on less. I won't have any student debt. I realize that I won't be able to fully take advantage of NYC, and I'm completely fine with that. I'll "suffer," for 3-5 years for the sake of the greater good.
Also, I'm sure your friend simply bumped into quite a lot of good-looking women and was worn down over the years. I'm out of there in 3-5 years max.
Also, just to clear up a misconception: while it's true that the high end in IT won't make nearly as much as the high end in finance, the gap isn't as large as people think. If you're still a software developer at 30, you're either a major fuck-up or you're doing it by choice. Most people move into management roles where the ceiling isn't 300K. Others go on to do consulting work in low cost of living areas, working 20 hour weeks and charging $200-300 an hour. Or starting their own consulting companies and system integrators, and banking fat checks from the government. It's not all darkness and despair.
Thanks for the comment though, lots of good info. Could you comment a bit on ways to spin my leadership/business experience to land internships? Thanks!
I'd just be straight up and say you founded X (link it or whatever) and say that you've done $250k of rev, high margins, etc. If you have other leadership stuff put it on there but it sounds like your first internship so it's not like you'll have previous internships to note.
Personally I don't think IT's a bad career by any means. I know lots of people my age who live very comfortably doing it. And I understand getting a big name as your first job-I think that's a very important thing to have on your resume regardless of industry-but I was more questioning, because I don't know, is having GS/JPM and having to be in NYC any more beneficial than having GE, or Merck, or Target or if financial services/banking is more impressive going to Charlotte and having BofA as the first line of your resume? I completely understand not wanting to work at shitstain.com or some stupid app, but if it doesn't matter if you're working at 200 West St or at GE in Norwalk or at Target in Minneapolis and you personally don't care if you live in NYC (some people want to live in NYC even if it has nothing to do with needing to be there for their career and there's nothing wrong with that) I'd go elsewhere.
honestly that just sounds like a boring life to me. why not try a startup/tech company, those seem much more fun
No, essentially all startups fail. I might bootstrap another business when I have the time, but for now my current one is doing fine. I have quite a lot of money for my age.
"I only bet on sure things." -- Gordon Gekko Come on, you should know this!
your choice dude, but you're definitely the first person i've met who's dream is to be an IT manager at a healthcare insurance company in a low-cost of living place with no family or kids
Do you ask everyone you meet what their goal in life is? I have nothing against the high finance lifestyle, but it's not for me. I'm not incredibly hard working, and I don't like the type of work involved much either.
Fact is that 95% of people would kill to be in the position that I am. Wealthy parents, side income, and won't have debt of any kind. As for marriage and kids, that's a personal choice that some people do make. Just because I don't want to go into IB, I'm shit? Nice logic man.
"I'm not incredibly hard working"
You're not hard-working and expect to be billing somebody $200-$300 an hour? You're not hard-working, but expect to be in a management position where you'll lead a group? If you knew anything about the workplace, you'd know any sort of manager who "is not incredibly hard working" is a poor leader and individuals below them question them recurrently.
This entire thread screams ignorance. Life isn't just some easy plan that you can follow. You will realize IT work sounds cool now, but entry-level anything intense fuckin sucks, and if you're not incredibly hard-working or type A-good luck bro
okay 1. when did i even ask you what your goal was? you literally posted it in the first thread.
Phrased it wrong, my apologies. I work hard; I meant that I am shooting for work/life balance and tech is a better place to do that than finance. As in no 70-100hr/weeks. The odd 60 hour week is fine.
Your online gaming website is making 250K in revenue and high margins?? Why wouldn't you just focus on that...
I work on it when I can, but it's essentially autopilot. It's going to last a while but not forever. The money from it will give me a head start in life, but it's nothing to retire on.
Are you here for the critique and suggestions you requested, or just validation and argument when that validation is not forthcoming?
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